Shoma loses a tooth

   

                                        
Shoma, the fattest sheep that farmer Bholu had ever reared, waddled out of her pen with a frown on her face. Of course, Bholu could not notice the frown but Shoma’s mother, the mighty ewe did. She hustled Shoma off to the fields to let her graze, watching after her thoughtfully.

Shoma walked as if in a daze. She stood looking moodily at the field of clover as her brothers and sisters all grazed on. Shoma did not eat because she had a toothache. And boy, did her tooth hurt! It hurt when she chewed, it hurt when she drank and it hurt when she clenched her jaw.

Shoma’s mother walked out to the field. She patted Shoma on her head and gave her a loving look. Shoma blinked back her tears. “It hurts”, she whispered. “Your tooth will come out in a few days. Keep it for the tooth fairy and she will bring you something”, said her mother kindly. “I will bring you special clover to chew on.”

Shoma sat with her mother inside the pen, chewing the tasty, rough clover that her mother had got for her. There was something hard in the clover. Shoma spat it out to see a white, pointed bloodied…. tooth! “I lost my tooth”, she said meekly. “Well, that is good! And it does not hurt any more!”, her mother beamed. “No, it doesn’t”, said Shoma excitedly, feeling the blank spot with her tongue.

“Put it under your pillow when you sleep”, her mother said gaily. That night Shoma was wide awake. Her tooth, wrapped in a bit of leaf was under the straw that Shoma used for a pillow. Her brothers and sisters had gawked at her tooth till late in the night. They turned it over and sighed. They checked their own teeth to see if they had a loose one.

And now, after a long time, Shoma felt like closing her eyes. I want to see the fairy, she thought. And then she slept. The next morning, Shoma scraped through the straw anxiously. “Oh, my!”, she exclaimed. There was the roundest and shiniest copper coin anybody had ever seen! Shoma danced with joy. “Oh, when would I lose another tooth?”, she asked.

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Shoma Learns to Fly- A story for Children

Shoma was a fluffy white sheep in farmer Bholu’s pen. She was the fattest of the young sheep. While other sheep ran here and there when they were let out, Shoma merely waddled. Other sheep thought she was lazy and teased her.

Shoma, at last was tired of all the teasing. She wanted to do something different. As she was moving near the chicken coop, she saw the little yellow chicks trying to fly. They would flutter for a while and then settle down.

‘I would learn to fly! That would show all the other sheep how smart I am.”

This made her feel very happy. The rest of the afternoon she chewed the cud in a daze, dreaming of flying.

The next day, as the sheep were let out of the pen, Shoma went straight to the chicken coop. Now, she sat in the shade of a tree pretending to sleep. But she watched the chicks from half opened eyes. It all seemed so easy. ‘Oh, but I do not have wings!”, Shoma thought. “Well, maybe, I can use my arms”. She tried flailing her arms but felt tired after a couple of tries. The chicks and the hens saw her and spluttered with laughter. The rooster crowed loudly to scare Shoma away.

Shoma turned to go and saw a large cloud of dust a little far away. It grew bigger and came closer. It was Bumpy the sheep dog! He was rounding up all the sheep into the pen. Shoma ran for her life. In and out of fences, over the puddles, around the bushes and trees, Shoma ran. And ran.

As she reached the pen, she panted and heaved. Then she heard other sheep clapping loudly, “Whee, Shoma can run too!”

Shoma smiled and felt SO proud.